Increasingly it looks as though we are at risk of creating a lost generation of young scientists who might not find meaningful employment in their chosen field. We may also soon fall behind countries such as China, Germany, and Singapore, which are aggressively investing in science and scientific infrastructure.

The problem: As we enter this potentially new dark age of science in America we need to find a way to continue inspiring our nation’s young people to develop a love or appreciation for science, while simultaneously engaging the US public in a dialogue to urgently expand federal and private support for scientific research.

There is no quick fix to this problem but inspired by the life and work of the great American physicist Richard Feynman (b.1918 – d.1988) a partial solution might proceed along the following path:

Dr. Feynman, who won the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics for his theories in quantum electrondynamics, was also a committed teacher and science advocate. The Feynman Lectures on Physics initially written for his CalTech undergraduates sold more than one million copies, and Dr. Feynman himself was known for turning down attempts to be recruited to the Institute for Advanced Study so that he might continue to take inspiration from teaching. Later, he also became an important public face for science during a televised hearing investigating the Challenger disaster when he gave a graphic demonstration on how O-rings fail in cold weather.

I would like to see the establishment of an innovative Feynman US Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science Education and Advocacy. Following an intensive year-long period of training in secondary school education and classroom teaching, these newly minted science PhDs would be placed in high schools across the nation. There they would be simultaneously mentored by established high school teachers and a senior scientist based in US government laboratories, state or private universities, or possibly industry. In parallel Feynman US Postdoctoral Fellows would be encouraged to engage the public through advertised lectures, and writing for the local and national press. The fellowship would last for three years after which time they would be employed by high schools where they would also continue their advocacy activities.

Applicants to the Feynman US Postdoctoral Fellowship program would be carefully screened and interviewed. The idea would be to establish a prestigious and meaningful program that would help to enlist future generations of scientists while also creating an advocacy base for the American public to accept science as a vital element of our national security and economic productivity. Although some education fellowships for PhDs are in place, they are not nearly of the breadth and scope of what is being proposed here. Ultimately, having a group of young scientists on the front lines with the American public might help to reverse some truly threatening workforce and national scientific and social trends.

About Peter Hotez

Peter Hotez, Co-Editor in Chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, President, Sabin Vaccine Institute and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and Fellow in Disease and Poverty, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America. He is the author of Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases (ASM Press), Second Edition. Follow Prof. Hotez on Twitter @PeterHotez